


Guardianship

by aurons_fan



Category: Final Fantasy X
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-03-13 16:45:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3388961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurons_fan/pseuds/aurons_fan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the death of Tidus's mother, Auron suddenly discovers he's been appointed guardian for a kid he just met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have always been one of those people who wondered how in the world Auron managed to take care of a kid and raise him into a semi-functional adult after being thrown into a new world and not knowing anyone at all. 
> 
> I guess this kind stemmed from that.
> 
> That, plus some comic I saw on tumblr eons ago about how awkward Auron must be around kids.

Only hours after watching Jecht’s wife get lowered into the ground, Auron opens the door to the boathouse to a very frumpy looking man.

“Can I help you?” Auron asks as politely as possible. Considering the man’s reaction, it probably isn’t all that polite.

But considering he just watched his best friend’s wife get lowered into the ground, he’s wearing Jecht's suit, and they had the leave the funeral early because Tidus started screaming and wouldn’t stop, Auron isn’t having the best day.

That’s not even calculating all the machina he’s had to deal with.

“Excuse me… uh,” the man looks down at the paper he’s confronting, before nodding. “Auron, is it?”

Auron nods. The man gives a reassuring smile.

“You missed the meeting with the lawyer after the funeral.” Auron blinks and the man gives him a strange look. “The… Will? You and young Tidus missed his share of the Will being distributed.”

“Oh,” Auron says, running a hand over his face. “Look, I’m sorry, but he didn’t want to stay and…”

The man quickly shakes his head. “It’s alright! I’m just here to give you the documentation that will allow you to stay the boy’s guardian until he’s of legal age.”

Anything else Auron was able to say vanishes from his mind. “Excuse me?” He asks. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

The man frowns. “Look, I’m only here to deliver the paper, but it says right here that the boy’s mother left everything to him and his guardian.” When Auron’s doesn’t react, the man adds, “Which she put down as you.”

Auron goes to snatch the paper out of the man’s hand (politeness be damned), but he’s off by a few inches. The man looks at Auron’s face before quickly glancing away and Auron resists the urge to grit his teeth and focuses on the paper, grabbing it.

It hits him everyday how helpful it was to have both eyes.

He skims the paper, eye blurring over the words and looks up in disbelief. “Are you serious? Doesn’t he have any family he can stay with?” When Jecht asked him to look after his son, Auron didn’t think he meant to _raise_ him.

The man wrings his hands. “Like I said, you missed the meeting after the burial. It was,” he laughs, and continues wringing his hands. “Quite an affair. Lots of yelling that you didn’t deserve it.”

Auron stares at the paper for a little while longer, before nodding. “Alright,” he says quietly. “Look, I’ll stop by your offices later to sign the documents.”

The man stops wringing his hands and somehow looks even more uncomfortable. Perhaps Auron should have invited him inside or something, offered him some tea. But then that requires Auron understanding how to work the stove, as well as for him actually care about the man’s wellbeing.

“Um, sir,” the man begins, and clears his throat. “Sir Auron, I need you to come by the offices as _soon_ as possible so you can sign these documents and collect some forms. In order for things to get moving properly, we need to make sure her affairs are put to rest-”

The noise of a door slamming comes from the back of the boathouse and Auron covers his face with his hands.

“Sir,” Auron says, hoping the irritation he feels isn’t too noticeable. Actually, he realizes, he doesn’t care. “Apparently, I am the guardian to a seven year old who just lost both of his parents. I will come by and sign the papers later. Now,” Auron grips at the door, and the man takes a nervous step backwards. “Goodbye.”

With that, Auron slams the door shut and locks with with a bit more force than necessary. He knows he should go check up on Tidus, but he instead leans his head against the door and takes a couple of deep breaths.

How did this seriously become his life? Just weeks ago (weeks? It feels eons), he had been traveling with Braska and Jecht and they were talking about saving the world. Now Braska was dead, Jecht might as well have _been_ dead for what he was, and Auron has an angry seven year old to take care of.

Granted, Tidus had every right to be upset, with his mother dead and his father gone. Well, he wasn’t actually gone, but how does one explain the concept of Sin to a kid who has never experienced the horror firsthand?

Auron exhales loudly and rubs a hand over his face. Tidus probably had heard the entire conversation and he was certain to be thrilled with that. From the moment Auron had walked into his life and mentioned that he was friends with Jecht, Tidus had looked prepared to attack.

After a moment, Auron stands up and shrugs off the suit jacket. He’d never worn outfits like these, all formal and such. He never had a need to. He doesn’t even think Spira (or, well, _his_ Spira) has suits like these.

He also never thought he’d have kids but, well, life has a way of dealing you strange cards.

Or death.

Auron chuckles mirthlessly and heads to the back of the boathouse, approaching a door decorated in drawings of an angry man in red and signs that say “KEEP OUT.”

Ignoring the artwork (Auron doesn’t think he’s ever looked _that_ angry), he knocks. “Tidus?” He calls and waits for a moment. “Are you okay?”

“I hate you!” Tidus screams.

Groaning, Auron shakes his head. “I’m making food, are you hungry?”

“Go away!”

Auron rolls his eye and does just that, heading to the kitchen. The kid may have every reason to be upset but does he have to take it out on Auron?

He stands in the kitchen for a long, long time, before realizing that he literally doesn’t know what to do. Either Tidus or his mother always made food, and it wasn’t like Auron has had an appetite these past few weeks. Whether it’s his nightmares that let him relieve appearing in this Zanarkand, half blind and completely confused, or watching Braska’s body being torn apart by the Final Aeon…

He shakes his head and crouching, pulling some pots from under the stove. He vaguely remembers Tidus filling it with water and he tugs on the spout. No matter how many times he sees it, the sheer ease of getting water, hell, lights, air… it’s mind boggling. No wonder the church had refused the use of machina. Life would be so much easier and then how would they spend hours worshiping and praying to Yevon and his _bitch_ of a daughter…

Auron slams the pot a lot harder than necessary onto the stove and stares at it, hoping that it will just turn on for him. It doesn’t, but he sees a few nobs, so he turns on and a flame appears. He leans back against the sink as the water heats up, sighing.

It’s not like Tidus doesn’t have family. Or, at least, Auron thinks he does. The funeral was packed with reporters and fans all screaming for Jecht, as if he’d died alongside his wife. People kept shoving machina in his face, asking how he knew Jecht, what was happening to Tidus, and they kept appearing on his blind side, throwing him off.

Apparently Jecht really _was_ as famous as he claimed to be back on the pilgrimage. All his rants about how he’d never have to deal with walking or people or anything if he didn’t want to, maybe they were all true.

Auron goes to grab a bag out what looks like rice of the pantry (and he still can’t get over this. A pantry. For extra food. Maybe it’s just because he’s been living on the road for the past year, but he’s still in shock), but he misjudges its placement to his hand and the bag thuds loudly against the floor.

Grumbling to himself, he crouches to start picking up the rice (and lucky for him, there’s a _lot_ ), when he notices a small figure at the doorway.

Tidus stares at him, eyes narrow. “How did you even _do_ that?” Tidus asks. The boy isn’t smiling, but he’s actually out of his room and _not_ screaming at Auron, so he’ll take that as a win.

“Oh quiet,” Auron says, scooping more rice into the garbage. A moment later, Tidus crouches next to him, helping him clean.

When everything is done, Tidus stands, eyes the stove and almost jumps. “Why did you put the fire so high?” he exclaims, quickly turning it down. Auron turns, sees the water about to bubble over, and shrugs. Tidus rolls his eyes and shoves Auron out of the way. Maybe the boy meant it to be a gentle shove, or maybe the kid really is that weak. Or maybe that’s just kids. “I’ll tell you what to do, and you do it, okay?”

“Uh,” Auron starts and Tidus shoves the bag of rice into his hands. “Okay.”

And somehow, they make dinner.

\--

Later that night, Auron heads from the bathroom, toweling off his hair (he will never get over “showers.” Yevon help him, out of all the machina that exists in this strange version of Zanarkand, showers are perfection) and goes to living room. He’s been sleeping on the couch for the past few weeks, uncomfortable with staying at a nearby inn since he wanted to be able to watch over Tidus but even more uncomfortable with the idea of staying in Jecht’s room once Tidus’ mother had passed.

Before he gets to the couch, he hears a noise from Jecht’s room. He’d never actually gone in, because it’s not like this is his house…

Auron blinks. He supposes it _is_ his house now.

He picks up his sword from beneath the front window and creeps to the back bedroom. As he approaches hand gripping his sword, he berates himself for not practicing more since he’d gotten to Zanarkand. If this was a fiend, he and Tidus were going to be in for a fight he probably wasn’t ready for.

But when he creaks open the door, and notes the small lump the size of a boy curled up under the covers, sniffling loudly, he quickly places his sword aside.

He half considers just leaving the kid be. Obviously Tidus went out of his way to be hidden so maybe he actually wants to stay hidden. But a voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like Braska scolds him, so he approaches the bed, sitting next to the lump.

“Are you okay?” Auron asks. The sniffling stops. The lump under the covers moves.

“I’m fine,” Tidus mumbles.

They sit there in an awkward silence. “Well,” Auron says, moving to get up. “Alright then.”

Before he can stand, Tidus jumps from under the covers and clings to Auron’s arm. He resists the urge to jump because Tidus clings to him on his blind side and Auron doesn’t think he’ll _ever_ get used to that. But he turns to look a the boy and Tidus sobs, hiccups, and wails against him.

It’s not so much that Auron isn’t a fan of kids. They’re... _cute_ , but he’s never really thought about them. In his position, it wasn’t like he was going to have any but he had always liked Braska’s daughter. She was quiet and thoughtful, and everything a small child should be.

Basically the complete opposite of Tidus.

It suddenly hits Auron that he’s going to be an awful parent.

“Look,” Auron says, awkwardly patting the boy’s back. “Your mom made me your guardian and you don’t have to like me, but I’ll look out for you, okay?”

Tidus sniffs loudly. Auron tries not to think of the snot now on his shirt. “You’re not just going to die on me like she did, will you?” Tidus whispers, clinging tighter to his arm.

Auron almost snorts out laughing but realizes that would be really inappropriate, no matter how funny he finds it. “I’ll try not to.”

Tidus nods against him and burst into more tears and Auron feels a lump growing in his throat. Jecht was right – his kid does cry a lot.

Auron doesn’t know if he should say something like “It’ll be okay” or “There, there,” so he settles in for patting Tidus’s back and saying nothing.

\--

The next morning, Auron wakes unfamiliar with his surroundings. He jumps up and glances around before leaning back on the pillows with a sigh. Just Jecht’s room.

He feels a little creeped out that he slept in his best friend’s bed but before he can let that thought sink in, there’s a soft knock on the door. Tidus opens the door and shuffles in, a cup in his hands.

“Morning,” Auron says, noting Tidus looks a little nervous.

“I made you something,” Tidus blurts out. “Mom used to drink it in the morning. I think I made it okay.”

He hands over the cup and Auron takes it, glancing inside. He nods before taking a sip and resisting the urge to spit it back up. _Augh_. It’s biter and kind of awful, but Tidus stares at him so eagerly that Auron pastes on a smile that is probably a little more than fake looking.

Tidus actually grins back, and Auron thinks that maybe he can do this.

“It’s called coffee,” Tidus says. “Mom never did anything in the morning without drinking that.”

Auron hums and holds the cup in his hand. “Did Jecht – uh, your dad drink it too?”

He instantly regrets mentioning Jecht when Tidus’s eyes grow cold and he stomps out of the room without answering. Auron sighs and, against his better judgment, takes another sip of the bitter drink.

This is going to be a long couple of years.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I saw this [picture](http://kingcael.tumblr.com/post/134932626245/auron-were-you-having-a-nightmare-no-yes) cross my dash and it's just this wonderful image of Auron holding a young Tidus.
> 
> And I may have become addicted to the musical _Hamilton_ (who hasn't?) and the song _Wait for it_ also makes me think of Auron.
> 
> So.
> 
> It guess this isn't a direct follow up to the last chapter, but it does fit within the same... universe. :D

Auron awakes with a jolt, skin covered with a fine sheen of sweat. He senses something moving on his right side and he reaches for it, gripping tightly because it could be a fiend of something worse-

“Hey! Lemme go!”

It hits him where he is: Jecht’s home, Zanarkand. And the thing he’s grabbing isn’t a fiend, it’s _Tidus_. He releases the boy immediately, moving back in the bed.

He thought he had been getting used to his lack sight, but that was apparently wrong.

Tidus doesn’t flee from the room like Auron thought he would. The boy instead looks at him curiously. Auron clears his throat. “What are you doing here?” he asks, his voice a lot gruffer than he thought. He coughs.

Tidus says nothing, and Auron moves to get out of bed to head to the bathroom. Maybe a shower will clear his head, even if it is in the middle of the night.

He hears Tidus trotting after him. “Were you having a nightmare?” Tidus asks. Auron pauses, hand on the doorknob. Tidus takes that as a sign to continue. “Cause I heard you shouting and stuffs and my mom used to say that’s what _I_ did when I had scary dreams and—”

Nightmares are what the mind has pulled together. Silly fictions things. Can he really call remembering every little detail of Braska being torn apart by Sin or Jecht being morphed into that _creature_ as something as simple as a nightmare.

“No,” he says. He rubs a hand over his friend at the waiting silence. Tidus is a talkative kid, but Auron’s not up for that right now. “I’m sorry for waking you.” He still doesn’t hear Tidus move from behind him, so he waves a hand. “Go back to bed.”

And then Auron feels Tidus latch onto his leg. He resists sighing or leaning his head against the wall. What he really wants to do is go grab the jug of Nog he keeps hidden on the highest pantry shelf and drink enough so he can fall back to a dreamless sleep, but he has a child to take care of.

Dammit Jecht.

So he gently pries Tidus off his leg, and kneels down to face the boy before Tidus can try to cling to him again. Tidus gives him a defiant look, trying to stare him down, but Auron has been playing this game long before this kid was even born.

Eventually, Tidus’s stare drops and he frowns. “Are you okay?” he asks, tilting his head curiously. Auron shrugs a little.

“No.” He admits. But that’s all he’s going to say, because if he let’s those floodgates open, he’s going have the grand experience of explaining to an eight year old how his father died. Or… didn’t die. “Not really.”

Tidus jumps forward and Auron has to use instinct rather than reaction to catch the boy as Tidus wraps his arms around his neck. “Sorry you had a bad dream,” Tidus mumbles.

Auron sucks in a deep breath because he’s not about to have a breakdown but if he closes his eye, he can still _hear_ Braska screaming. “It’s…okay.” But it won’t be fine, and, dammit, he can feel tears welling up. He coughs, awkwardly wipes at his face with the hand not holding Tidus, and stands, picking up the boy. “I’ll be alright.”

Tidus doesn’t respond, and Auron looks down. The boy’s eyes are closed and his breathing has evened out.

Auron’s lips quirk into a smile as he heads to the boy’s room to put him back to sleep.


End file.
